Companion piece to Deskspook's story, 'Liar, Liar'
by Spooks-Obsession
Summary: This spy story is set in season 5, b4 ep.5, but Colin didn't die. I strongly suggest reading Deskspook's story 'Liar, Liar' to establish context, although not necessary. *characters of Ruth's family belong to Deskspook* Happy Reading!
1. Chapter 1

**Companion piece to Deskspook's 'Liar Liar'**

**Chapter 1**

Harry and Ruth were gritting their teeth, politely sitting through another boring self-important story by Gillian. A couple of weeks had passed since Amy's wedding and it appeared that Gillian had dismissed her previous encounter with the pair. Gillian was finally approaching the climax of her story when Harry's mobile began to ring rather loudly. Harry politely apologised, pulling his phone out. Adam's name flashed on screen; he sighed, showing the caller ID to Ruth.

"You don't have to take it, you know. It is the weekend!" Gillian's sharp voice called out frustrated that her story had been interrupted by someone who Harry obviously didn't want to talk to. Only Ruth knew his sigh was one of relief not frustration. Harry got up and moved away from the group as Ruth's pager beeped. Ruth and Harry shared a glance and left the house together.

"How rude!" was Gillian's indignant cry as the back door slammed shut.

* * *

"Adam, what's going on?"

"Bomb threat; we need you back here ASAP."

"We'll start driving straight away."

"Driving will be too slow. Special Branch (S.B.) is sending a chopper."

"Oh great...that'll be subtle." Ruth giggled in the background to Harry's sarcasm.

"It's already on its way. Be in the sports field across the road in 15 minutes. I'll talk to you once you're in the air."

"Thanks Adam." Harry disconnected the call and looked to Ruth, raised his eyebrow and smiled at her.

"What are we going to tell the family Harry? It's not like a chopper lands in the sports field every day."

"Leave it to me. Elizabeth and Amy will understand. Gillian will just think we're showing off; or, will want to drool over us."

"True. I'll talk to Mum (Elizabeth); you talk to the others." Harry and Ruth moved back into the house. Ruth left Harry in search of her mother as she wasn't with the main group in the lounge room (thankfully). She found her in the kitchen cleaning up.

* * *

"Mum, we've got to go. Something's happening at work and we need to be there."

"Oh, that's sad. I was hoping for some more time with you both. When are you leaving?"

"There's a chopper landing across the road in about 10 minutes for us."

"O my! You really do work for MI5 then?" Ruth smiled at her mother and replied

"I think you know the answer to that. Harry is telling the others now." Elizabeth pulled her daughter close and whispered in her ear

"Is it really bad?" she asked.

"Could be," Ruth replied "that's why we need to join the rest of the team."

"Let me know that you're safe, yes?"

"Yes mum, of course...I'm really glad you know now. I hated lying to you."

"I understand love." Their intimate moment was broken by a shriek from the lounge room;

"A chopper!" Elizabeth and Ruth smiled to one another as Ruth left to join Harry.

"Yes, well the work we do is very important and we need to get back immediately." Harry really couldn't stand much more of this hideous family. He moved towards the door, just as the whirling of the chopper's descent could be heard.

"Come on Ruth, we need to go." They left the house and crossed the road towards the chopper. All the family jumped to their feet and followed them out, congregating on the front lawn to watch the chopper land. As Harry and Ruth were waved over by the landing crew, Ruth's mobile rang. Seeing the caller ID as Malcolm, she took the call.

"Ruth, have you gotten on the chopper yet?"

"No, it's just landed. Why?" She could hear the urgency and slight fear in his voice.

"Special Branch did not order you a chopper. DO NOT GET ON IT! Do you understand?"

"Yes. HARRY!" Ruth hung up and ran to Harry as he waited for her to catch up. She pulled him close to shout into his ear so he'd hear.

"THIS IS NOT SPECIAL BRANCH. DO NOT GET IN." Harry didn't need telling twice; he looked to the chopper and indicated he would not be joining them. The chopper crew looked angry but couldn't do anything about it, given the large audience the presence of the chopper had accrued. The chopper took off. Harry and Ruth stared at each other, knowing their fate had they have gotten on.

* * *

The large crowd on the street started murmuring about the events displayed before them. Gillian's voice could clearly be heard above the rabble trying to dominate conversation. Harry and Ruth's mobiles rang together. Harry was the first to answer.

"Harry Pearce. Yes, we're fine; still in Cheltenham. Who sent it?"

"It was Special Branch, but the idiot had been bought out. Malcolm tracked the money trail, but still don't know the main players yet."

"Right; we'll get ourselves a secure room and call you back." Harry looked to Ruth who was still talking to Malcolm.

"Yes Malcolm, Mum's got a computer I can use. Is the back door still open?"

"Yes, I'll just set it up so it's a bit easier for you."

"Okay, thanks Malcolm. Speak soon." Ruth ended the call as Harry looked to her.

"Back door?" Harry inquired.

"You don't want to know."

"Okay..." He gave a huge sigh and looking towards the crowd on the front lawn murmured

"Back into the breach." Harry and Ruth began walking back towards Elizabeth's house. Most of the crowd had dissipated as they'd walked back, having gotten bored since the chopper left. Only Elizabeth, Amy and her hubby (David) were left outside.

"Why didn't you go with the chopper?" Amy asked. Harry grimaced before replying,

"It wasn't for us". Amy and Elizabeth stared at Harry and Ruth wondering what the implications were; but at the same time not wanting to know at all. Ruth decided to take charge; after all, it was her family.

"Mum, I need to use your computer and internet. We need a room in the house where we will not be disturbed; and we need your absolute discretion." Elizabeth was delighted that her Ruth was taking such a command. She beamed at her and replied

"You shall take my room. There's the ensuite, so you won't have to leave the room, and you can use my laptop on the little sitting table in there. Amy and David, you make sure no one disturbs them. Come with me." Elizabeth led the way while Harry and Ruth followed. Amy and David entered the lounge room and were greeted by a rather loud volley of questions about the turn of events. David hushed them all so Amy could answer.

"Harry and Ruth have decided to work from here. Don't ask me anymore questions, and don't go looking for them. They have an important job to do, so let them get on with it. Anyone who disturbs them will deal with me and David; do I make myself clear?" There was a stunned silence throughout the room and into the kitchen. Everyone nodded their agreement; only Gillian started to question it.

"What's so important? It's only transport, for god's sake! I'm going to find out for myself." She got up to leave, but thankfully Stewart finally found the guts to stand up to his bitch-wife and pulled her back down onto his lap. He whispered in her ear

"You dare disturb them and it's no sex for you for a month." Gillian turned to Stewart gob-smacked. Sex, or lack of, was the only thing left for Stu in his arsenal and he was grateful it worked again this time. Amy said a quiet thank you to the group and headed upstairs to the loo. The baby was certainly dictating things these-days.

* * *

Upstairs in Elizabeth's room things were progressing rather quickly. Ruth had already hacked into the MI5 mainframe using the 'back door' and was beginning to trawl through all the Intel. Harry was on the phone to Adam, getting a clearer picture of the situation.

"It's a bomb threat to the Houses of Parliament but someone knew you were out of town, so stay put and keep your eyes open for anyone coming over unexpected."

"Okay, will notify Ruth's mother. Get everyone together; I'll call back in 15 minutes." Harry rang off and indicated he was leaving to look for Elizabeth.

"Look in the kitchen Harry; she's probably been left to clean up on her own again," Ruth informed him.

Harry descended the stairs and headed straight for the kitchen. Spotting Amy in the hall, he pulled her along too. Reaching the kitchen, he was met with Gillian pestering her Aunt for answers.

"Come on Aunt Elizabeth. Tell me something...ah, the man himself. Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" Harry clenched his teeth; the time for niceties was over.

"Go away Gillian, I need to talk to Elizabeth and Amy in private."

"Ooo...Mr Commando now, hey? What do you want to talk about?" Harry knew she was goading him, but she was impossible. Luckily, Elizabeth stepped in.

"Gillian, leave now. I'll talk to you later." Gillian stalked out of the kitchen saying

"This isn't over, you know." Harry sighed. He hated telling people their lives were at risk because of him. Making sure the door was firmly closed, he moved towards the women.

"This is not an easy thing to say, and I hate doing it; but it can't be ignored. The chopper was not for us, because it was sent by someone else, not Special Branch. So, unfortunately, that means that someone other than MI5 and the Home Secretary knows Ruth and I are here. Don't panic; but please, don't open the door to anyone you don't know; even if it is someone you do know, but aren't expecting them today. You'll have to keep an eye on the front and back door. If anyone approaches you, let me know. Amy, can you please discretely tell David to watch a door as well. This is not a hoax and I'm sorry to drag you into this. Do you understand what you need to do?" Harry looked at both women and saw the fear in their eyes. He pulled them close and hugged them tight saying

"I'm so sorry; but this has to be done now, for everyone's safety." Elizabeth was the first to respond,

"Yes, we understand. How should we let you know?"

"Send one of the children to get me. Don't worry, you'll be fine. Anyone looking for us won't do anything to your family that will cause alarm. All the same, be careful." Harry hugged them both again and returned upstairs to Ruth.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Right; everyone there?" Harry asked the team. He heard a chorus of yes' in reply.

"Good. Adam, report:"

"A bomb threat was made this morning at 9AM threatening to cause maximum causalities and structural damage to the Houses of Parliament (H.P.). The caller had a thick French accent and sounded like he was struggling to speak out the message; like he'd only just started to learn English." Adam paused while a recording of the bomb threat was played, then continued saying

"We've had a quick look through recent Intel and there's nothing mentioning any French connections."

"Is there any time frame suspected on the bomb threat?" Harry asked.

"Nothing at this time; I suspect we'll receive another call later to give us an indication of this," Adam replied. Harry took charge.

"O.k. Adam, check all personnel and the H.P. with any French connections. I want to know everything. Ros and Zaf go to the H.P. and ask around for anything out of the ordinary; particularly check out the cleaners and waste collection. Malcolm, can you check all CCTV surrounding the H.P. for re-occurring incidents – cars, pedestrians, sight-seers taking too many pictures of one thing, etc. Start with direct streets and pathways and move out to a radius of 5miles. Colin, can you help Malcolm with the computer side of things; Jo, check out any incidents that Malcolm and Colin discover. Ruth, check all Intel from latest reports of H.P. security and Interpol. Okay, any questions, comments?"

"Harry, what shall we do about the idiot at S.B.?" Zaf replied.

"Yeah, he did sell us out" Jo piped in.

"O.k. Ros and Zaf, when your task is done, have a chat to this idiot and get him talking. I want to know who knows about Ruth and me." Harry commanded.

"Malcolm?" Ruth asked.

"Yes Ruth."

"Now that I'm in I think you should close the 'back door' and give it a new combination."

"Of course, consider it done. I'd also like you two to know that Colin and I, well mostly Colin, has set the satellites to sweep over your position every 2 minutes and a thermal scan every ten minutes surrounding the house. It's clever really, the algorithm he's written allows the satellite to record and notify us with a beep if there are any re-occurring incidents; including if there's a car across the sports field doing nothing. It even..."

"Yes, Malcolm, I get the picture." Harry said stopping Malcolm's next rant that probably no-one would understand; and continued saying

"Thank you, I shall feel much more secure that way and it will alleviate the fear of Ruth's mother. Okay, get to work. I'll call the Home Secretary and let him know what's going on. We'll ring back in one hour. Good luck." Harry put his mobile back in his pocket and began pacing the room. Ruth watched him for a moment, following his every movement with her eyes.

"Harry, what's up?" Harry smiled at her and sighed at the same time.

"I just hate putting other people's lives at risk. Your family didn't choose this life; we did...but we've brought it to their doorstep, hell, to their whole families, neighbours, and friends." Ruth got up and stood close to Harry, wrapping her arms around him.

"I know, but we can protect them. Good old Malcolm's watching over us." Harry chuckled and replied

"Yes, Malcolm and his equally brilliant side-kick are watching over us. I better tell your mother." Harry made a move towards the door, but Ruth pulled him back.

"Harry, you need to call the Home Sec. first."

"Yes, Ruth, you're right. You, um..." He indicated to the laptop she was working on and Ruth got the point. She smiled to herself as she heard Harry calling the Home Sec. She loved Harry in work-mode, just as much as a lover and friend. She was proud of the moral man he was at work; she stood by him every time.

* * *

Meanwhile, downstairs Gillian was becoming more and more difficult, insisting she should know what's going on. Elizabeth was trying to reason with her, coming to the end of her tether.

"Gillian, go home. I don't want you here anymore." Gillian stalked out of the room, slamming the door shut as she went. Everyone else sat in silence. Aunt Helen was the first to speak,

"Well, I think we'd all better make a move. Thank you for lunch Elizabeth. I'll call you later." The family started to prepare to leave, taking their glasses through to the kitchen. Amy and David stood too, standing near the front door talking to everyone as they left. Stewart appeared beside Amy and asked

"Have you seen Gillian?"

"Shit. Come with me. You need to get her and take her home before she causes any more trouble. And don't let her talk to anyone about today." Amy led Stewart upstairs, walking as far as she could. They reached Elizabeth's room just in time to prevent Gillian barging into the room. Stewart tackled her into the adjacent room,

"You disappoint me, Gillian. You should be with me rather than chasing after Ruth's man. Come home with me now." With that, he started to push Gillian towards the stairs.

"Harry, should we..?" Ruth asked, pointing to the door.

"No. Let them handle it. Sounds like Stewart might have actually grown some balls. I still need to brief the Home Sec." Ruth nodded and continued on with her work; although keeping her ears attentive to what was happening in the hallway.

Stewart managed to get Gillian out of the house and into the car before she started balking again. He kept the windows shut and took off before she could tell the whole neighbourhood. Amy and David stood at the front door and sighed with relief. Finally the house was quiet. They went inside and locked the front door, returning to the kitchen to find Elizabeth.

"I'm glad they've gone... What a day!" said Elizabeth with a sigh.

"The front door is locked now, so no need to guard it anymore. I'd better go up and check on the others; let them know the others have finally left." Amy said. Elizabeth stopped her before she left the room, saying

"You've had quite a day and I expect you're tired. Check on the others and then use the spare room to have a nap; you too, David. I'll be fine down here. It'll be nice to have the place to myself again."

"Thank you, I am tired; exhausted really." Amy replied. As they mounted the stairs again, David told Amy he'd get the spare room ready for her, and left Amy to see Ruth.

* * *

Amy gently knocked on Elizabeth's bedroom door. She heard a faint yes from Ruth and pushed the door open.

"Home Sec. the chopper wasn't for us... Yes, I know it'd be better to be at Thames House, but we'll have to stay here... Ruth's the most resourceful woman I know, we'll be fine working here... Yes, Malcolm's set up satellite surveillance; he's got us covered. I'll speak to when we've got more." Harry closed his mobile and looked up to see Amy staring wide-eyed at them.

"It's ok Amy." Ruth assured her,

"What's happening downstairs?"

"Everyone's left. The front doors locked and Aunt Elizabeth is tiding up. David is getting the spare bed ready for me. All this excitement has made me tired."

"Yes, that's good; you look like you could do with a rest." Ruth replied. Harry spoke up then,

"I'll go down and give Elizabeth an update. I'll give her a hand as well."

"Thank you," both women replied. Harry squeezed Ruth's shoulder and walked out of the room. Amy turned to Ruth and exclaimed

"'Most resourceful woman!'" Ruth smiled,

"Well...I once told Harry no institution was safe from me. I'm good at my job and I enjoy it."

"Better let you get on with it then." Amy said with a smile as she left to get some rest. Ruth returned to her work eager to find some information to help the others.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Elizabeth sat down with a sigh on the lounge after moving everything to the kitchen ready for washing. She closed her eyes as her mind wandered over the course of the day, like a replay in her mind. Harry stepped in to the lounge room and quietly sat down, not wanting to disturb Elizabeth. He waited for a few minutes, enjoying the rest himself. Elizabeth could sense someone had entered the room and roused herself from her musings to find Harry sitting across from her with his eyes closed. Elizabeth smiled to herself.

"I suppose rest would be a rare thing in your line of work." Elizabeth commented. Harry opened his eyes and nodded his response and said,

"Yes. Although, thankfully Christmas seems to be quieter; terrorists have families too."

"Maybe there is a god after all." Elizabeth replied with a grin.

"I know you didn't come down to have a rest though, so... what's the latest?"

"Well, the good news is that we've got satellite surveillance on the house and a 5 mile radius; so you won't need to fear someone approaching the house uninvited. However, you will need to stay here for the next few days. I sense we might be in for the long-haul on this one."

"At least I can feel safer now...Thank you."

"It is me who should be thanking you, for your hospitality. I'm so sorry you've been dragged into all of this."

"Apology accepted. I think I'll have a nap and face the washing up later." She closed off the conversation and lay down across the lounge. Harry got up and headed to the kitchen to start on the washing up thinking he might as well help now while he can.

* * *

Ros and Zaf finished chatting to the cleaning staff with no leads.

"I hate playing catch-up." Zaf complained,

"Let's check out CCTV." They moved to the security room and started asking questions, to which no replies were particularly helpful.

"Right, pull up all CCTV for tour groups coming through," said Ros, taking charge. They sat there trawling through hours of CCTV in fast forward.

"STOP! Rewind a little. There, what's going on there?" Ros said, pointing to the screen.

"We had a tourist trying to see into one of the offices; but he wasn't too insistent, just curious," the head of security replied.

"Which office is that?" Zaf asked.

"The Home Sec.'s" Ros replied.

"Was the Home Sec. notified of this incident?" Ros asked.

"Yes, he viewed the CCTV and said he'd not seen him before. We ran the face through our computer to see if he'd been here before, but had no matches. False alarm."

"Okay. Keep us updated for any regular visitors and / or strange incidents," Ros said as she got up to leave. Ros and Zaf headed back to Thames House ready for the next check in.

* * *

Harry stopped washing up once the drying rack was full. He left it to dry and moved upstairs.

"Ros, where's Adam?" Harry asked at the next check in.

"Still checking out the H.P. personnel. We got nothing from the H.P. CCTV. They'll notify us of any incidents."

"Okay. Ruth?"

"No French connections; still looking though."

"Malcolm?"

"Jo's checking out an incident two streets away from the H.P. now; but so far nothing seems out of the ordinary."

"Right; Ros, Zaffar, go hard on the S.B. idiot. Malcolm, Colin, keep up surveillance. Ruth, check out all the latest political issues, anything that could cause such a violent response overseas and at home. When Jo returns, she'll co-ordinate with you."

"Sure" Ruth replied.

"Okay. It's a waiting game now. We need another call to give us more information. Keep at it, we'll get something soon." Harry hung up and began pacing the room again. Ruth brought up all the newspapers for last two weeks, scanning headlines for key issues.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

A blue Mercedes pulled up in the car park adjacent to the sports field. The occupant remained in the car, starring out across the field to the double-storey house, wondering what mystery lay within.

* * *

"Harry!" Ruth calls out. Harry quickly returns from the ensuite.

"Yes, any news?" Harry asks.

"Malcolm just received a new bomb threat. Colin's tracing it now."

"Patch me through," requests Harry.

"Harry, here it is;" Malcolm replies. A thickly muffled French accent stumbles over English words saying, 'A bomb will go off in 2 days. Now you pay us.'

"Well, they do sound a bit juvenile. Malcolm, what are the others up to?" Harry inquires, to which Malcolm replies,

"Zaf and Ros are on their way back. We'll call a meeting when everyone's back."

"OK – work on the trace and look for any possible locations for this Frenchman." Harry pulled his phone away and was about to hang up when he heard Malcolm,

"Harry, wait! They've just walked in."

"The S.B. guy was a total moron."

"Thankyou Zaf," Ros replied;

"He wasn't too smart, but rather forthcoming. He was paid off by a German. Didn't catch his name; wasn't really interested in who was paying him six figures."

"Like I said, a total moron!" Groans came from all round as Zaf's comment resounded through the phone line.

"So, he's a dead end?" Harry clarified.

"Yeah, he is pretty stupid. He looked devastated when I told him his six figures would be taken for MI5 training." Sneered Ros.

"Hm...OK. Adam, you take charge and call me when you've got something more substantial. Call Ruth if you need her. I've got other things to do."

"Sure, talk soon." Adam replied and the phone call ended. Ruth looked to Harry, questioning his 'other things to do'.

"I'm going for a walk."

"O Harry, I'd rather you didn't."

"Don't worry, Ruth, I won't be gone long, just need some fresh air." With Ruth assured, Harry left the back door and walked the perimeter of the garden, deep in thought.

* * *

Back on the grid, Malcolm and Colin's trace has found an ESL (English as a Second Language) centre within a 5mile radius of the phone box used to make the bomb threat. Colin searched CCTV for any info on their Frenchman, while Malcolm went in search of Adam.

"Adam, we've got something;" he called out crossing the grid to Adam's desk. As he arrived he continued saying

"It's an ESL centre. We think the Frenchman was approached to make the call because he would not understand what he was actually saying. I think it'd be very easy to find out the information if we had someone in there."

"Ok, I'll go in." Ros said.

"No Ros, we need the shy look. Jo, you're up. Zaf can you prep her. She needs to be a uni student looking for someone to give her private French lessons, willing to teach some English on the side. An ESL centre would be the perfect place to find someone keen to practice conversational French with. Do we know what this guy looks like?" Adam asked.

"Colin's checking CCTV now." Malcolm replied.

"OK, keeping working on it. Once you've found our caller, give all relevant information to Zaf, and then track him back through CCTV to look for our real bombers. Once you find that out, give the info to Ros for surveillance. Zaf, once Jo is prepped, check out who else our bombers have contacted."

Just as Adam finished speaking, Colin appearing with a print out, saying,

"this is our Frenchman. It looks like he was supposed to say more, but couldn't be bothered trying hard enough. He had a paper with him that had a lot more notes on it than what he'd told us."

"Good work Colin; work with Malcolm on the next task." Adam replied.

The group nodded and dispersed as Adam pulled out his mobile.

"Ruth, how are you going out there?"

"Ok. My family's napping and Harry's gone for a walk. Adam, I've noticed there's a car across the sports field that has been there a while."

"I'll get Malcolm to check it out. We've had a mini break-through. We found the Frenchman goes to an ESL centre, so Jo's going in to get close to him. The wonder boys (Ruth smiled) are working through CCTV following any leads from their end. Any major issues you've uncovered?" Adam asked.

"None so far," Ruth replied,

"Uni fees are going up, but nothing substantial to warrant a bomb threat...unless the purpose is to create a whole lot of noise about the increase of uni fees."

"Would uni students really be that concerned to bother with all this?"

"Actually, it would be a good cover for anyone else with a grudge against the security services. Create a smokescreen, get a patsy to do the bomb threat, while you do what you like."

"That's a sadistic idea, but a good one, Ruth. The bombers are still in this, but they should lead us to our mr big. Get Harry back, we'll need him on this one."

"Don't forget the car, Adam!"

"Already on it," Adam replied, finished the call and walked towards the tech room.

"Adam, our regular scans have picked up a car that's been parked across the sports field for the past 30mins."

"Good, Malcolm; that's what I'd come to tell you. Who is it registered to?"

"It's registered to a Stuart Cooper; a relative of Ruth's." Adam sighed, beginning to realise just why Ruth disliked her family so much.

"Ok, I'll call Harry to discuss. Thanks Malcolm."

* * *

Meanwhile, Harry had taken a turn around the garden thinking about the strain he'd put on Ruth's family, just by being there. He was grateful they could rest in his company; but the concern for their safety weighed heavily on his mind. There was also the word 'training' that Ros mentioned – different context; but it still made him think about the days he'd spent in training, all those years ago. Turning towards the house, he looked upstairs and saw Ruth on the landing waving him in. Sighing he moved towards the house and hoped it was good news.


End file.
